players in a game
by clairebxrton
Summary: The story began like so: There's blood on her hands that's not hers. Rule!63 Cisco Ramon.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything. No monetary value is being made by writing this.

* * *

The story began like so:

There's blood on her hands that's not hers.

17 people dead, hundreds injured. Careers ruined, lives destroyed. Families torn apart – including her own because her family wouldn't even acknowledge her anymore – and people on the verge of starting a lynch mob. The media circus right outside STAR Labs everyday called for Dr. Well's and their head despite the fact that he was one of the many injured.

She wished she had been one of the 17 dead.

Dr. Wells brought her on two years ago, back when she was just a kid in the eyes of the scientific community. 20 year olds do not get to join the making of history normally, but Dr. Wells allowed her to. Her hands went into making the future brighter, better, amazing.

But the story didn't end there.

45 minutes was not the future. 45 minutes wasn't enough time to bask in the glow of an achievement. 45 minutes was not enough. But 45 minutes was all there was. 45 minutes was all she was given before STAR Labs blew a hole in the city she had turned into her home. 45 minutes and in a span of two, her world just -

 **d.**

Rewind.

The story began like so:

STAR Labs laid in ruin, her career laid in ruin, her boss laid in a hospital bed. Ronnie laid in a coffin and Caitlin closed in on herself when the coffin was lowered. She was the only alive person left in STAR Labs. Everyone left, trying to salvage what was left of their careers and hoping not to be known as the people who helped blow a hole in Central City.

If she had been smart enough she would've joined them.

Everyday she was accosted by someone telling her how much they wished she was dead, wishing her to get killed, to be attacked and beaten, to be taught a lesson. She no longer bought coffee from Jitters because she was scared of one of the baristas poisoning her. She no longer ordered out and when she had to shop she went to Starling City because there she could fade into the background. She no longer interacted with people she once did because they hated her.

She hated herself too but still.

A month after the particle accelerator blew, Cisco was walking home, hood down in front of her face. She could feel herself being followed but tried to keep calm. She had texted Caitlin but she knew that her friend would be too busy mourning to actually look at her buzzing phone. A block from her apartment building two guys pushed her into an alley and beat her up. She gave a few good punches but she wasn't built to fight. She was built to science.

A week later she broke her lease and moved into an apartment under Armando's name in hopes of getting free from the people that followed her.

She also ditched her phone in a trash can and bought an entirely new wardrobe of loose clothing that she could hide in when she felt threatened.

She never tells anyone about the

 **P A I N.**

Rewind.

The story began like so:

A month after her getting beaten up STAR Labs gained a new body: Barbara Allen. One of the people injured in their quest to change the world. The comatose woman's family allowed her to be moved because Dr. Wells promised them the best medical help available.

Last time Cisco checked, none of them there were actual medical doctors. Caitlin was amazing but she was a biomedical engineer, not a physician.

Dr. Wells didn't listen to her.

And so Barbara Allen joined them in the Cortex, the beeps of the machines reminding them to check on her often. Cisco got a crash course in medicine and Caitlin found something to obsess over. Saving the woman's life was the only thing on her friend's (ex-friend? Could you still be friends with someone when you killed their fiance? Cisco didn't know) mind. And while it was good for Caitlin to move on, it wasn't good of her to move from one obsession to the next.

Not that she had any right to talk. She obsessed over trying to make the city love them again.

Like that'd ever happen.

 **Pause.**

REWIND.

The story began when Barbara Allen jolted awake, terrifying Cisco and Caitlin.

The story began when Barbara Allen became the Flash.

The story began when Barbara Allen saved both Caitlin Snow and Francisca Ramon.

The story began when-

The story began…

The story began when Barbara Allen came into their lives.

No.

Rewind.

 **Stop.**

 **Play.**

The story began when Francisca Ramon was 19 years old and her engineer professor introduced her to Dr. Harrison Wells.

Rewind.

The story began 15 years ago, back when Francisca Ramon was 8 years old and still living in Detroit. Eobard Thawne time traveled and killed Nora Allen. Barbara Allen was there.

 **Pause.**

Fast forward.

 **Pause.**

The story began in the year 2151, Eobard Thawne was born.

The story began when Eobard Thawne became obsessed by the Flash.

The story began far into the future but somehow would come to end in the past.

 **Pause.**

Rewind.

The story began like so:

Francisca Ramon was 19 years old when her college professor introduced her to Dr. Harrison Wells. Dr. Harrison Wells told her that there was going to be an opening at STAR Labs and that she should apply.

Francisca Ramon applied. Francisca Ramon got the job. Francisca Ramon joined STAR Labs in creating the future.

And so the story continued the same.

STAR Labs blows up. Dr. Wells gets injured. A CSI named Barbara Allen becomes the Flash. Team Flash is formed. The world continues turning. Things happen.

And Cisco Ramon stayed a constant in all of that.

Every universe, every world, a Cisco Ramon is changed by a science accident, gets the same powers and tries to change the world for what they believe is the best. Half the time a Cisco Ramon succeeds and the other half, failure.

And so, the story began like so:

There's blood on her hands that's not hers.

17 people dead, hundreds injured. Careers ruined, lives destroyed. Families torn apart – including her own because her family wouldn't even acknowledge her anymore – and people on the verge of starting a lynch mob. The media circus right outside STAR Labs everyday called for Dr. Well's and their head despite the fact that he was one of the many injured.

Cisco Ramon stood in the center of greatness and for 45 minutes achieved her dreams. But 45 minutes was not enough to keep the pain of the next few minutes from damaging her and so Cisco Ramon soon learned that striving for too much could cause hurt.

45 minutes of unbridled joy and then close to a year of scorned looks, threats, violent attacks and fearing for herself.

45 minutes of happiness in exchange for her future.

It seemed like a fair trade.

And so the story began and it continues.


End file.
